Attaining the highest clinical level in esthetic and cosmetic dentistry necessitates the development of artistic skills; of balancing illusion with reality. The shade of a tooth is a combination of color and light and varies in different light conditions. Understanding the differences in color shades is the basis to creating illusions. Understanding light and color, and the reality of illusions, allows the clinician to design and sculpt a smile, to modify a flawed display artistically so that patients may perceive it as natural and more attractive, and to design laminates and veneers, class III, class IV, and cervical cavities.